Snubbing Turkish offer, NATO plans next summit in Brussels

NATO announced on Thursday it will hold its next summit at its new headquarters in Brussels, discreetly rebuffing a Turkish offer to host the gathering.

“I expect the 2018 summit will take place here in Brussels next summer,” the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

Stoltenberg did not announce a date for the summit but a NATO official said it would likely take place in early July. Turkey’s offer remains on the table for the next leaders’ meeting, the official also said.

Privately, NATO diplomats acknowledged that the establishment of the new headquarters, which was inaugurated last month, provided a convenient excuse for holding the summit in the Belgian capital — and passing up Turkey’s offer at a time of difficult relations between western nations and Ankara.

The tensions mounted after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded to last summer’s coup attempt by purging hundreds of senior military officials, including many NATO officers. They were further strained by the Erdoğan government’s efforts to campaign in Europe in favor of a referendum to consolidate the president’s political control.

However, Western nations are acutely aware that Turkey has a key role in a volatile region. On the sidelines of the NATO ministers’ meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis met with his Turkish counterpart Fikri Işık and voiced support for Ankara’s fight against Kurdish separatists, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“The secretary reaffirmed support for Turkey in its fight against the PKK and plan to increase cooperation on Turkey’s counter-PKK efforts,” the chief Pentagon spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said in a statement. “The secretary and minister also discussed the crisis in Syria and agreed to continue cooperation to end the scourge of violence and alleviate human suffering there.”

Mattis also met Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz and discussed an American forward operating brigade that is now stationed in Poland as part of an effort by NATO allies to respond to greater military assertiveness by Russia.

Jeff’s right. Having Turkey in NATO is like having the “Islamic State” as a member of the Alliance.

Posted on 6/30/17 | 5:15 AM CEST

Madhava

And yet Turkey is still a part of NATO are you saying you wouldn’t keep your word? Either kick them out and then you can say that or how can any country really trust NATO?

Posted on 6/30/17 | 7:37 AM CEST

Ahmed

It’s unbelievable that the criminal state Turkey is still in NATO!
Remember that Erdogan threatened all EU citizens?
Here the text out of the EU-Turkey relation Wiki:
“In March 2017, in a speech given to supporters in the western Turkish city of Sakarya, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “my dear brothers, a battle has started between the cross and the half moon”, after insulting European government politicians as “Nazis” in the weeks before. The same month, he threatened that Europeans would “not be able to walk safely on the streets” if they kept up banning Turkish ministers from addressing rallies in Europe.”